


Basilton Pitch and the Birthday Conundrum

by kamwashere, thepurplemu24



Series: Carry On Countdown 2020 [1]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Birthday Fluff, COC Day 1: Found Family, Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), Carry On Countdown 2020 (Simon Snow), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Normal Traditions, Post-Book 1: Carry On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:06:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27711119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamwashere/pseuds/kamwashere, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepurplemu24/pseuds/thepurplemu24
Summary: Baz is missing Simon's smile, and a 'normal' birthday party might be just the thing they both need.
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Series: Carry On Countdown 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026772
Kudos: 12
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2020





	Basilton Pitch and the Birthday Conundrum

Baz stirs from his sleep and rolls over to treat himself to Simon’s restful face lying beside him. But once again, he’s met with Simon’s back. Oh, how he wishes Snow didn’t have those wings on his back so he could move closer and hold him tightly. That’s how you comfort people who are sad isn’t it? You hug them tightly. But these damn wings make it very difficult when Snow only shows him his back these days. The wings are symbolic somehow; ever since Simon has got them, all they ever did is keep them apart. He can’t touch Simon without him showing his heart on his sleeve, without knowing what he thinks about it. Now, sometimes Baz thinks that he doesn’t even know what Snow thinks.

Baz reaches out his hand and places it on Simon's shoulder. He feels Simon recoil slightly at his cold touch. Damn his cold dead hands as well. Having a relationship with Simon Snow is far from what he’d imagined it would be, but at least despite being dead, and his boyfriend having wings and a tail, at least Simon used to smile at him. But it’s been months and his magic hasn’t come back yet, and Snow seems to be falling further and further into a pit of self-loathing. It’s not a nice place, he’s spent a long enough there himself to know it’s not a fun place to hang out. Snow helped him out of that pit, now it’s his turn to do the same. But how? 

On his way back from Uni, Baz decided to pop into the café to pick up a Pumpkin Spice latte for Snow. It’s not much but it might perk him up a bit. Shit, why is this so hard?

“Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you….”

What is that painfully out of tune singing? After a long day of lectures and Snow ignoring him, he has a bad enough headache as it is! 

Baz turns around to see a mother and father carrying a birthday cake across the room towards their very excited child. As the cake is placed on the table, the child takes the biggest inhale of breath and then proceeds to breath and spit all over the cake. Smoke from the candles blows straight into the faces of the onlookers. What is it with these weird Normal traditions? The mother and father applaud their child, for the apparently difficult task of blowing out candles. The mother then leans down and gives her child a big comforting hug. 

Baz suddenly imagines himself as the child and remembers his own mother’s warm smile and the way she looked at him with so much love. He was barely a child but the image has been stuck on his mind, to comfort and to mock. He puts his hand to his heart, suddenly feeling very aware of the lack of heartbeat. Yet again, it reminds him that any chance of a happy family moment was ripped away from him the moment a pair of fangs delved into his skin. He couldn’t imagine his father, step-mother and aunt hiring a table at a café and decorating it in garishly bright coloured balloons and paper chains, with a big cake and candles. He couldn’t imagine them putting up with the ridiculous party hats. Normally, for his birthday it’s some extravagant meal full of food he has to pretend to like, which he’ll go and eat alone later on anyway. Wow. He’s really stood here feeling jealous of some kid getting to celebrate their birthday with their mum and dad. And they’re Normals. 

Baz’s mind drifts back to when he and Snow moved into the flat. He was putting up some family photos, one of his Mum, and then the obligatory group photos of himself, father, step-mother, his siblings, and aunt Fiona.

“Don’t you guys know you’re supposed to smile in photos?” Snow teased after he’d placed them on top of their cabinet. 

“Let’s see your family photos then, I’m sure you’ve got your fair share of awkward photos.”  
Simon’s smile vanished in a second and he took a step back. 

He regrets what he said in an instant. He can be such an idiot sometimes but Snow, bless him, just smiles again and shows him a goofy selfie he’d taken with the Mage on his first day of school. The Mage is not even looking at the camera but Snow has his eyes crossed playfully, and tongue stuck out. He looks to be about 12 in this photo, and Baz smiles fondly at it. Back when things used to be so easy, where the only things they had to worry about were homework and living another school year with his arch-enemy/crush, not the fucking Humdrum. 

Baz looks back at the normal birthday celebration. Snow never would have had this either. Wait, that’s it. That’s how he can cheer up Snow! A party, Normal style. Shouldn’t be too difficult to pull an epic party with no magic, and of course he’ll invite Bunce. He should probably invite Wellbelove as well. Yes, perfect! A family doesn’t have to be blood related after all. He can show Snow that he has a family and can still have a fulfilling life without magic all at once! Oh, how efficient of him, killing two birds with one stone. He better call Bunce, she’s bound to want to call a meeting and plan the party out on that backboard of hers. If his past self could see him now, getting excited at the idea of planning a party with Bunce to cheer up Simon Snow. 

***

“Let me get this straight. You want to have a Normal birthday party for Simon?”

“Yes.”

Penelope pauses. “It’s not on for another month.”

“Yes, Bunce,” Baz sighs, “I’m telling you in advance so we could plan ahead.”

She seems to think about it then ultimately just shrugs, “Alright.”

He raises an eyebrow, “That’s it?”

“I think it’s sweet of you to plan a party for him.” She says with a smile. 

Caught off-guard, Baz scowls and tucks his chin on his neck, feeling strangely embarrassed. He’s always sort-of admired Bunce, for she’s easily the smartest, most competent student in Watford, the only one who he frequently rivaled academically with (which didn’t mean shit to him, since he’s more focused with his rivalry with Snow. Merlin, how did they get here? He still can’t believe this is his life now.) She is fiercely loyal to Snow, and knows things even he knows nothing about, despite being his roommate and spending half of his life obsessing over Snow. He thinks he’s maybe doing alright after all, with Snow, when even he gained the appreciation of Penelope Bunce. “Just, make sure you don’t say anything to him. It’s a surprise.” 

“I’m fully capable of keeping a secret Baz, you don’t need to worry about me.”

Baz rolls his eyes and heads for the door. 

“Where are you off too?” Penny calls out after him. 

“Figured it’d be rude if we didn’t invite Wellbelove…”

***

Agatha just stares at Baz for a good few minutes after opening the door to him on her doorstep. 

“Agatha, you’re letting all the warm out!” 

Baz looks over Agatha’s shoulder to see her mother coming towards the door. “Basilton Pitch! I never expected you to pay us a visit! Agatha, where are your manners? Don’t let Mr. Pitch stand outside in the cold.”

Baz ignores her glare and smiles graciously at her mothers as he walks through the door. He takes one of Agatha’s mums’ hand and kisses it gently. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Agatha has told me so much about you.” 

He can almost feel the icy glare Wellbelove is giving him behind his back. Isit bad that he’s enjoying this? 

“I assure you Mr. Pitch, the pleasure is all mine.” Baz looks up and charms her with the Grimm-Pitch smile. 

“Ergh, Mum, gross. Baz, what do you want?” Agatha snaps. 

“If you could excuse me Mrs. Wellbelove, I have a very important matter to discuss with your daughter.” Baz removes his hand from hers and turns to face a very grumpy Agatha. What Snow saw in her still baffles him. She’s beautiful, sure. (Not that he’s the right person to ask.) But she’s always been… plain. Superficial. Fake, almost. Although in her defence, he’s aware she still probably has a grudge after the whole rejection thing. Snow would probably tell him to have more respect and understanding for other people's feelings. 

Mrs. and Mrs. Wellbelove leave them to it and he gets right into it before Agatha kicks him out. Straightforwardly, he begins to speak, “It’s about Snow… Simon. As you know, he’s been feeling a bit down lately so I thought we could band together and throw him a birthday party. But, no magic. I want to prove to Simon that he can still enjoy the best bits of life without magic.” 

Agatha seems to perk up a little as she considers this, then shakes her head. “No, sorry. I don’t think he’d want to see me.” 

At that, her phone pings. Once again, Baz is reminded of how he might have caused the strain between Wellbelove and Snow. But that year, it had been too much. He witnessed as Snow gradually grew interested in her, watching him watch her. As always, Baz, like the villain that he is, with the knowledge that his only purpose in life is making Snow’s life hell, took her away from him with his grubby, cold hands. It wasn’t hard, especially when there’s a part of him longing to know why he wants her (and not him) so much. It worked out though. When Snow saw the two of them together, his attention shifted back to him again. 

It wasn’t his finest moment. But Baz has been young and stupidly, hopelessly, angrily in love. Love made you do stupid, hopeless, angry things. 

“Of course he would, you’re his friend. More than that, you’re his family. He’d want you to be there.”

Her phone pings again. 

“I’d probably just make the whole thing awkward. I know you don’t really want me there.” 

Another ping. 

“Yes, but this isn’t about me. It’s about Simon and all of us coming together to show him that he’s not alone. He has a family.”

Another ping. 

“Do you need to answer that?” Baz asks her. 

Another 10 pings proceed to sound from her phone. 

“For the love of God, Wellbelove, will you please answer that or at least silence your damn phone. Who wants to talk to you that bad anyway?”

Agatha looks down at her phone to see 14 texts from Penny in all caps, all saying the same thing: ‘SAY YES!’ 

If she says no, she’ll never hear the end of it from Penny, and she probably owes it to Simon after disappearing from him recently. Plus, this might be the last time she gets to hang out with them before she leaves. 

“Fine, I’ll go.” 

“Yes! Brilliant!” 

Baz freezes in his celebratory dance as he sees Agatha’s upturned brow, and remembers himself. Standing straight, he clears his throat and tries again, calmly and says poshly, “Thank you. It will mean a lot to Simon to have you there. I’ll be in touch to discuss preparations and to confirm dates and times.” 

He calls out a farewell to the Wellbeloves and heads back to the flat. With the hard part already over, now he just needs to figure out what exactly a Normal birthday party consists of. 

***

Riding the train used to be a nostalgic, quietly exhilarating feeling for Simon. But now it just feels bittersweet. The atmosphere feels the same every station, which both provides both comfort and a dull ache in his chest. The noise of people chattering and meandering about, the smell of stale coffee being sold over somewhere in the station, and just the physical of a train ticket in his hand. The whole process is a routine that feels familiar, comforting but now he wonders if he will get to do it again in this lifetime. 

He tries not to think of Watford, but it’s futile. How do you not miss home, even if it wasn’t yours from the beginning? How do you live without magic, even if you didn’t have it in the first place? Simon closes his eyes, gripping the ticket a little tighter. 

He arrives at the flat just as the sun is setting. Fumbling with his keys, he yawns. Uni has been mentally draining and he can’t wait to kick back, lie on the couch, fall asleep to crappy telly, and only wake up at one in the morning. As the door swings open, he jumps back when he hears loud yells of, “Surprise!” 

“W-what?” Simon says, dumbstruck. The flat has been completely adorned with birthday decorations. Banners, balloons, and fairy lights brighten up their cozy flat, platters of food (Simon’s eyes quickly narrow in on the cherry scones) fill up the table, and the speaker is playing a generic pop song, which is probably picked by Agatha. His eyes dart between Baz. Penny, and Agatha, all wearing dorky, party hats and holding party horns. 

“Happy Birthday!” All three of them shout. Simon smiles as he looks at Agatha, waving and smiling at him and Penny jumping up and down as she blows the party horn. His eyes stop at Baz, he’s almost unrecognisable in his garishly bright-coloured party hat. Simon takes a step towards him, but just as he does Baz whips out a party popper and fires it in his direction. Confetti scatters around him, clumps landing in his hair. Baz replaces his party horn with a pair of bright red whistle lips and blows what Simon thinks is his attempt at ‘happy birthday’. 

Simon bursts out laughing and holds his hands out to Baz as he walks towards him. “You look ridiculous.” 

Baz shrugs and grins behind the plastic lips, he takes another pair out of his pocket and aims for Simon's mouth with them. Simon leans back and pushes Baz’s hand away. “Oh no, I’m not wearing them.” 

Baz’s smile fades slightly and he takes off the lips. “Is it too much? Have I gone overboard? I wasn’t sure what to go for. You go into these party shops and there's just so much. Normals have so many weird party traditions, I just figured it was best to go for everything to give you the full experience, but if it’s too much I’m sorry. I can…”

Simon smiles endearingly at seeing Baz get so panicked and worried about a party. He puts his finger to Baz’s lips to stop the tangent. 

“No Baz, this is perfect. Ridiculously perfect. I just don’t want to wear the lips, because if I did, I wouldn’t be able to do this.” Simon leans forward, slides his finger from Baz’s lips, and kisses him. Baz closes his eyes and pulls Simon close. As they part, Baz puts his arms around Simon's neck, the only way he can hug him without the blasted wings being in the way. Simon holds Baz close, burying his face in his shoulder. 

“I’m sorry Baz. I’m sorry for being so...” Simon muffles into Baz’s shoulder. Baz moves out of the hug, so he can see Snow’s adorable face. He smiles and wipes away Simon’s tears. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I just want you to know that no matter what, no matter how alone you may feel, we’re all here for you Simon and we all love you and support you.”

“Through thick and thin!” Penny chimes in from behind them. 

“No matter how far apart we are, we’re family” Agatha adds. 

Penny grabs Agatha's hand and pulls her along as she bounces towards Simon and Baz. 

“Group hug!” 

Penny puts one arm around Baz and the other Simon, mushing the three of them together. Agatha rolls her eyes, and then gently joins in on the hug. 

“Oooooo, we need a group photo!” Penny announces, right in Baz and Simon’s ear, almost deafening them both. She breaks up the hug and runs to set up the camera. 

Simon starts to remove the confetti from his hair when Baz grabs his hand. 

“Leave it, you look cute with all that in your hair.” Baz grins, his fangs showing a little bit. 

Simon chuckles and takes the spare pair of whistle lips out from Baz’s hand. 

“Okay, let's look ridiculous together.” Simon puts on the lips, and Baz laughs before doing the same. 

“Okay everyone, get ready!” Penny clicks the shutter button and races into frame. She puts one arm around Agatha and the other around Simon. Simon takes hold of Baz’s hand and the two go for a kissing pose, whilst Agatha simply smiles and Penny beams at the camera. 

Simon smiles as he looks at the photo through the glass of the frame. Baz takes a peak at the photo from over Simons shoulder and nods with approval. “That’s come out well. Do you know where you’re gonna display it?” 

Simon looks over at the cabinet where Baz’s family photos are displayed. Smiling, he walks over to the cabinet and places it in the centre, blocking the selfie he took with the Mage from view. 

“Perfect!” says Baz as he walks up and puts his arm around his boyfriend's waist. Simon rests his head on Baz’s shoulder, and Baz kisses the top of Simon’s head before resting his head against Simons. 

This wasn’t the family Simon used to imagine he’d have, but he’d certainly never wish for anything more. He always fantasized about getting adopted by a perfect, nuclear family or even meeting his own parents (which didn’t turn out so well.) There’s always been a childish, desperate part of him that wishes he could be a part of a real family but now he knows what he has known all along: Simon Snow has already, finally found his family.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! leave a kudos and a comment if you liked it! 
> 
> [em’s tumblr!](https://thepurplemu24.tumblr.com)  
> [kam’s tumblr!](https://kamwashere.tumblr.com)


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